Civil rights leader Charles Evers dies at 97

Civil rights leader Charles Evers died of natural causes Wednesday in Brandon, Mississippi. He was 97.

The older brother of Medgar Evers, Charles Evers made history in 1969, when he was elected mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, becoming the first Black mayor in the state since Reconstruction. After his brother's assassination in 1963, Evers took over for him as state field secretary for the Mississippi NAACP.

Born on Sept. 11, 1922, in Decatur, Mississippi, Evers served in the Army during World War II, and throughout his life hosted radio shows. He also spent time as a concert promoter for B.B. King and was involved in the bootleg liquor business. In the 1960s and '70s, Evers ran unsuccessfully for several political offices, including governor of Mississippi.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.